The beautiful song “The Prayer” was written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa, and Tony Renis in 1998. The original two versions of the song were recorded for the film “Quest for Camelot,” which premiered in 1998. One version was recorded by Opera tenor Andrea Bocelli in Italian, and the other version was sung by Celine Dion, the Canadian music legend and superstar. Later on, Bocelli and Dion recorded an epic duet that appeared on albums by both of the artists. Sager tells the meaning of “The Prayer,” saying that “it embodies everything I looked for my whole life.” She added that the prayer is that we are led to a safe place and be guided by God’s grace. She explains that she herself didn’t find that safe place until she met her husband, Bob Daly when she was in her mid-40s.
David Foster describes the song’s meaning as “a lot of different things to a lot of people.” That makes a lot of sense to me since I found the song to be representative of the hope of humanity. The song says to let the “children remember the sun,” and to let them dance and soar. Their lives have begun so that they can engender the rain, as the river runs through fields, forever subsiding their pain. In this video, Celine Dion recounts the time she first met Josh Groban. She was scheduled to perform “The Prayer” with Andrea Bocelli, but Bocelli couldn’t make the rehearsal.
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Celine listened in dismay as the producers told her that they had a “kid” there to rehearse with her and sing Bocelli’s part. That kid? Josh Groban. Celine said that when he came out, he looked like he was about 12 years old, and he was so nervous. But of course, as we’d expect from Josh Groban, he nailed it. Josh tells his side of the story that David Foster had called him, telling him, “I’m in a pickle” and begging him to come help. When he showed up at the door, he had a hard time getting in because he just looked so young. He said that he was shaking so badly from nervousness. In this video, he thanks Celine for being a friend to him for so many years.
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If two angels got together to sing a song for humanity, this is what it would sound like. Listen to Celine Dion, and Josh Groban sing “The Prayer” below.
